#rhion leviathan

[yzeltia]

FFXIVwrite2024 1. Steer

Featuring: @goldencrusader 's Ioh'Juhn Reign as Juhnathan Leviathan Characters: Khassandra Leviathan (Jannie Eyradoux Fortemps's Shard), Yachai Leviathan (Violet Fisher's Shard), Rhion Leviathan (U'rahn Nuhn's Shard), Elidbibus Expansion: Shadowbringers(Context) Rating: T Notes: There have been 7 Rejoinings since the Sundering. We're likely to never know what happened to those worlds to reach their abnormal ascendancy. This is a story from the 5th Shard, a world that might have been. This continues from the continuity of The First Union

Glossary: The Five = The five great seas of the star Catter = Miqo'te Merfolk = Sahagin Levinfolk = Lalafell

“The Five is our kingdom. I sailed them all, as did your uncle, and our father, and his father before him, all the way back to the first King Leviathan of the Whitestones, who united all of Catter and Merfolk kind to make  peace with the land dwellers under the banner of the Seawyrm. He claimed the oceans for us so that we may always have our bellies filled with fish and would have freedom to travel as far as the horizons would take us so that we might never be reliant on the land again!”

“Except for fresh water.”

Juhnathan crossed his arms as he turned toward his daughter as she kept her eyes windward, ensuring that they continued perpendicular to the coast to the east. His sons snickered a bit, both leaning against the larboard taffrail as they waited to listen to their father’s speech.

“I don’t understand. How come Khassandra gets the helm? I’m the eldest. I should be the first mate,” Yachai signed toward his father as the man tried to remember where he’d left off.

Rhion rolled his eyes. “The last time we sailed close to Home, you got us beached on a sandbar. If it wasn't for a generous wind we’d still be there.”

Yachai flitted his ears backward and glared at his brother as he quickly signed, “ I didn’t ask you,” before giving him a middle finger.

“Oi! Cut it out you two,” Juhnathan scolded, muttering. “We should have stopped at one,” soon after.

“HEY,” Rhion and Khassandra called out, the twins’ tails both thrashing.

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding…mostly. Anyroad. Khassandra is steering because she is the most patient and the least likely to be distracted,” Juhnathan said, putting his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Our numbers grow less and less every year. Yes, the winds and terrible storms they have brought have seen many of our brethren lost to the depths of The Five; however, a well trained sailor can weather any squall. One day you will be King of the Five and a good king knows that he can not always be at the helm. Sometimes we must put our pride aside for those who can do the most good.”

Yachai looked down, tightening his fist then brought them up to sign, “And where is Uncle Zhonathan then? Was he not doing good enough for you? I can’t call out orders. Are you going to send me away too!?”

Juhnathan frowned, taking a step back as Yachai pushed past him in a huff, the boy heading grumpily downstairs toward the bow to sulk by himself. Rhion sighed, shaking his head as he moved beside his dad then looked up at him. “He just missed Uncle Zhohnathan. It is kind of lonely out here with his ship in tow and Uncle always let him helm his ship.”

Juhnathan raked his hand through his hair, watching Yachai brood across the ship. The king remained silent for a moment before shaking his head. “It is lonelier, isn’t it.”

A crack of thunder echoed through the Blackwood, causing Rhion to sit up in a sweat. A hiss escaped him as he felt his head throb, making him wince and palm at his forehead finding it lightly bandaged. He followed the wrapping around to the back then hissed again as he felt a tender wound beneath it. Getting more of his bearings he looked around, finding himself in a rather small room and atop two small beds for Levinfolk pushed together to accommodate his size.

“There was little time to move you to visitor quarters. King Ramuh wanted you taken care of quickly. They had to push you through a window to fit you inside,” a familiar deep voice called out through the dark.

Rhion rubbed his eyes then peered through the dark toward a cloaked figure. “Elidibus? Is that you?” he called out in a near whisper, weary to raise his voice too much.

“Yes,” Elidbus answered, moving closer to kneel at the edge of the bed in his white robes, hand reaching out to press upon Rhion’s chest. “Your father heard whispers that you’d have an accident. I felt compelled to see that you were safe. Apparently you had a rather hard fall from the bow. Perhaps you indulged King Ramuh a bit too much in spirits? Do you need water?”

A shudder ran through Rhion as Elidbus felt over his chest. He huffed, taking the other by the wrist to pull his hand away before offering it a small kiss where it pulsed. “I will not ask how you came to be by my side so quickly but I am happy for the company. I didn't have a chance to sit down with the King. There was a rare break in the clouds so that you could see up into the night sky. It just so happened there was a meteor shower. I must have been in such awe I lost my footing and fell,” he said before looking toward the window as a streak of lightning illuminated the panes. “And then I had the most vivid dream…But it wasn’t a dream. It was more like reliving one of my own memories from the outside.”

Rhion jumped as Elidibus suddenly jerked his shoulder toward him. His eyes widened a bit as the other pulled back his hood and ripped his mask off, having never seen the other without it. Elidibus’s bright blue eyes searched his face, frantic and near tears.

“Do you know me?” Elidibus asked breathlessly.

“Of course I do,” Rhion said, touching the other’s face before giving the other sly smile, “In all the ways one could possibly-”

“Say my name.”

“Elidibus…?”

“No. Say my name.”

Rhion leaned away as he finally sensed a desperation in Elidibus’s demeanor that he’d not thought possible for the normally stoic and soft man to have. He slid from the bedding, getting on his knees to put his arms around him, holding him still. “You have always been Elidibus to me,” he said, into the other’s ear.

Elidibus’s shaking ceased. His body almost seemed to go limp against Rhion’s, the Catter having to quickly unfurl his legs to be able to sit comfortably as the other came down upon him. They laid there quietly, save for the storm raging outside. Unsure what to do or what to make of Elidibus’s state, Rhion took to rubbing his back and singing softly.

 “Upon the seas, long ago, a Catter had too much to drink. 

He offended a pirate captain, and nearly landed in the clink.

But a Catter wise, as he, or so they say,

And with his cunning linguistics, spared himself jail that day.

He said ‘If you let me go, Captain, I’ll tell you of a great sea prize,

As I am a clever Catter, and have made The Five my wives.

Now the Western Sea is our home, as we certainly all know

And the Northern Sea is too icy, not a great place to go.

The Southern Sea is sunny and warm, the perfect place for me

But if I had to go and hide, the rock islands of the Central I would be.

So to the Eastern Sea you’ll set your sails, crossing ocean wide

If it's a massive treasure you do seek, on the farthest end it will reside.

Go Captain! Fly! Leave me here while you seek,

As going from Central to East will take at least a week!`

And so the Captain thanked him, leaving him on shore,

Then sailed his men toward the East and then was heard from no more.

And so the wise Catter lived safe the rest of his days,

As the Eastern Sea is notorious for swallowing ships in its waves.

“That is a ridiculous song,” Eldibus said softly, unable to shake the amusement in his voice.

“I didn’t write it. Dad used to sing it to us when we were little. It’s comforting,” Rhion replied with a small shrug.

“You are ridiculous,” Eldibus sighed, before lifting himself up, staring down at Rhion calmly, though still with an air of searching for something he wasn’t finding.

“So is that mask you wear all the time. This is the first time I’ve seen you without it, you know. What about the priesthood says you have to keep it on. Even during-”

“I am just married to the old ways. It has long been an important custom to my people. I am often afraid that I might forget our ways. Even now names and faces slip from me. I feel it might drive me mad if I don’t find comfort in the familiar,” Elidibus explained.

“I think I understand…” Rhion trailed before touching Elidbus’s bare cheek as he sat up to draw his face in for a kiss before pulling back with a playful grin, “You’re kind of in love with me. Aren’t you?”

Elidbus froze again, mouth opening then closing before shaking his head. “Azem! I mean Gelos. This is all very-”

“Azem? Gelos? Who’re they?” Rhion asked, flinching as the other suddenly pulled away.

“You are well. I must return to the temple,” Elidibus said sharply, ignoring the question while picking his mask up off the floor.

“Woah! Hey! You just got here,” Rhion said, reaching out to grab for Eldibus’s wrist as he retreated. “You’re acting more elusive than normal. What’s going on?”

“I’m clearly mistaking you for someone else. Let me go.”

“Where are you going to go? There’s a storm raging outside and it’s the middle of the night,” Rhion protested, keeping his grip firm. “And for that matter, how can you mistake me for someone else? I’ve always been me. I’m the same person who’ve you-”

“You are nothing! An imitation…or perhaps just a fraction of who you are supposed to be,” Elidibus snapped.

Rhion swallowed, letting go of Elidbus’s wrist. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but even so it felt like the other had singled in on some raw nerve he never knew he had. A wave of hurt was replaced by anger before rounding back to confusion. “Even if that’s true…whatever that is has you drawn to me,” Rhion said defiantly, trying to mask his frustration with confidence. “Go if you must. You always seem to know how to find me…”

Rhion turned away from Elidibus as the man retreated into the shadows. A chill crept up his spine as he suddenly felt himself alone in the room. He turned to look back, Elidibus seeming to have vanished from the space without so much as the creek of a door hinge. With a huff, he sat down, raking a hand through his hair trying to replay where exactly he went wrong.

[yzeltia]

Ezelliot Leviathan's Happiest Snowcall Day 8

Title: I Want a Hippotamus for ~~Starlight~~ Snowcall

Characters: Yachai Leviathan, Juhnathan Leviathan, Ezelliot Leviathan, Rhion Leviathan, Khassandra Leviathan, a hippo

Rating: G for Gee I hope I Get a Hippotamus for Snowcall

Notes: Spoilers for the concepts presented in Shadowbringers

    Snowcall had come, the longest night of the year. Most children had already been put to rest, dreaming of the Snowmother taming the black wolf and white wolf just for one night so that she might deliver them presents and fill the first day of winter with delight.  All except the eldest prince of the seas, who in his many attempts to spy the Snowmother, had failed to do so.

    Yachai spent many Snowcall Eve's setting up traps, trying to stay up late and catch her in the act. When his siblings were born, he thought he might have the upper hand, his parents both distracted by them far more than him, and yet, his father was always one step ahead of him, especially the pirate king. Most mornings, he'd wake up to the holiday having passed out, or caught in his own trap.

    This year he was sure it'd be different. He'd drank an entire pot of coffee, one he made himself and ensured couldn't be sprinkled with sleeping powder. Aside from that, he made no attempts to foil or ensare the Snowmother. He was simply just going to sit and wait and keep himself caffeinated, believing that his trickery had been his downfall. If he simply did nothing, his parents would have no reason to suspect him further. He could simply be seen as a young mature Catter. Or so he thought.

  After feigning sleep, he waited for the rest of the family to retire, and once the pirate king's snores rattled the cabin, he got up and hurried downstairs in wait. And so he waited...and waited...Until finally, he heard the strangest of sounds...grunting.

    His ears perked. This was not the usual noise that he'd been explaining was simply the pirate king frustrated unable to sleep...no, it was coming from outside. Hurrying onto the deck, he looked around until spying a small hippo trotting around the main mast.        Eyes wide, he hurried to the creature before kneeling down. The creature innocently pushed it's nose into the boy's touch then snorted. Excited, the boy's tail flipped about while he started to pet the creature. A pet! He always wanted a pet...but there would be no way he'd be able to keep it. Both fathers refused to allow it, especially Ezelliot, knowing well that he'd be the one to take care of any mess it made aboard the ship.

    Panicking, he picked up the creature. It needed to be hidden. Struggling under the weight, he staggered back inside then shut his new friend in his room before making a small nest out of his dirty clothes that he'd hidden in his closet. He lowered his ears a bit as the creature grunted, petting him softly as he thought about what to do. A closet was no place for a pet. Frowning, he hugged the hippo, letting it munch on his shirt. Jumping, he pulled back then shook his head signing "No, bad" to the creature with a rapid head shake. Putting both hands on it's nose, he shook his head again then backed away slowly, ensuring that it stayed put.

   Hurrying to the galley, he pulled out some cabbages from the ice box then filled a large bowl with water. Heading back to his room, he paused near their family room, ears perked and tail high, the room somehow filled with presents while he'd been busy caring for his little friend. Brow narrowed, he huffed, stomping back to his room, feeling tricked once again by the Snowmother. Upon his return, he dropped his cabbages and bowl, the hippo much smaller than he remembered and laying on its side. Kneeling down, he picked it up, finding it to be soft and plush...no ounce of life left in it. Shaking, he swallowed, squeezing it a bit more before keeling over in a faint.

 

---

 

Ezelliot laughed softly as he watched Yachai lay on the deck, eyes glued to the stuffed hippo. All morning he'd been silent, barely a sign out of him as he concentrated on the stuffed plush. It had not left his sight all morning, much to the amusement of both parents.

 "We got him again. I wonder how many more years we have of this," the red-haired Catter sighed, feeding Khassandra some mashed-up plums.

"Who knows. When he gets the better of us, we'll just have to have him help us do it for the little ones," Juhnathan laughed, letting Rhion chew on a soft cookie in his lap.

 "Good, we're getting too elaborate keeping this up...We'll take him to see his little friend again someday. I wonder if it'll remember him."

"Ah...someday. About that..."

    Ezelliot turned, eyes narrowed, "You did send the hippo back to the mainland, didn't you?"

 "Well, I misunderstood Lord Ifrit's offer...it was more of a gift hippo than a borrowed one..."

  Yachai's ears twitched as his father started to scold the pirate king. Later that day, he was reunited with his hippo friend...and the king was gifted a shovel and some rubber gloves as an extra gift.

[yzeltia]

FFXIVwrite2024 25. Perpetuity

Characters: Themis, Gelos(U'rahn Nuhn), Elidibus, Rhion(U'rahn Nuhn), U'rahn Nuhn Expansion: Endwalker Rating: T Summary: Themis and Gelos will meet again...they will. They will. Notes: Dialogue taken from Hope's Confluence

-The World Unsundered-

I’m too late. I’m too late. Gelos thought to himself, running as fast as his legs would take him. Screams echoed in his ears as the sky blazed above. Aetheric waves of light poured through the streets behind him, licking at his heels. Tears streamed down his face, knowing now Venat had succeeded in her opposition to the Convocation.

“THEMIS! THEMIS!” he screamed before tripping on his robes and falling into the ground. He hissed in pain, feeling himself scraped and bruised up as he skidded forth. He tore at his robes, discarding them to make movement easier before feeling a searing pain at his chest.

He raked at his shirt, falling on his knees before looking skyward as a great shadowed beast rose up above the city. Eyes trailing upward he screamed again, “THEMIS! STOP! IT’S VENAT! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!”

He trembled, tears rolling down his face as his god manifested and looked down toward him. Shaking, he smiled, feeling Themis sensing him. “It’s Venat…,” he said weakly before letting his eyes widen as a beam of light struck through his chase.

“GELOS!” Themis’s voice called out.

Gelos looked, spotting a white robed figure in the distance. Relief washed over him as Themis’s face came into view. He reached out for him, then felt what was akin to heartbreak…then nothing.

-The Fifth- 

“I thought that this day might never come. It really is you…in some fashion.

Rhion stepped back, the white robed figure approaching to embrace him. “Elidibus? What has gotten into you,” he asked before finding himself kissed. His heart fluttered, something inside him. He clawed at the other’s robes, kissing him back in turn, feeling the man melt into him. Something warm fell on his cheek, then another. Pulling back, he found Elidibus crying and smiling weakly at him.

“How I’ve waited for you,” Elidibus breathed out, raking a hand up through the other’s hair.

“Waited? I’ve known you my whole life,” Rhion laughed, blinking as the other pulled away from him, mood seeming soured. 

“You said you gazed into the night sky and witnessed the meteor shower and something stirred within you, did you not?” Elidibus asked, moving to draw his hood back up.

Rhion stopped the other's hands, preventing him from hiding his face. “Aye. And I've been plagued with bad dreams ever since.”

“What do you dream of?” Elidibus asked cooly. 

Rhion grew quiet for a moment , averting his gaze. “Nightmares of places being torn apart by The Mad Queen’s army, mostly,” he replied, wary of answering. To say that they'd been somewhat prophetic was bad luck on the seas and invited bad tidings all around.

“Never of me then?” Elidibus asked, voice remaining calm.

“I've had my share of dreams about you, but not like the others. Those are much more fun and I wake in firm spirits,” Rhion teased, tilting the other's chin up to steal a second kiss.

Elidibus turned his head, suddenly disinterested in Rhion’s affection, making the poor Catter’s tail whip with frustration. “I don't have time for this. I've too much to do to be distracted with your games.”

“My games? This is my cabin, on my ship. You came to me from who knows where and are the one that kissed me. You keep looking at me like you're expecting something but I am what you see,” Rhion said, loosening his shirt and pulling it off. “I am and always have been Rhion Leviathan, Prince of the Five Seas and youngest heir to the Whitestones.”

Elidibus took a step back as the other loosened his trousers and let them fall to the floor. Rhion stood naked, arms outstretched and sternly looking upon him. He opened his mouth, starting to respond then sharply averted his gaze. “If you have a point, make it.”

“If you want me, I am here.”

Elidibus clenched his fists a moment then looked into Rhion’s golden eyes, seeing the familiar flick of soul, fragmented behind them. Sighing, he pulled the drawstring on his robes then walked into the other’s arms.

-The Source-

“Again and again you rise before me and fall. Never really seeing me,” Elidbus sighed, sitting on the edge of U’rahn’s bed as he snored.. “We are closer now than ever and yet I’ve never felt like you were further away. It does not matter. My duty will soon be fulfilled and a new dawn will rise for us…together this time.”

Elidibus pulled off his mask, leaning down to brush his lip’s over the other before retreating into the shadowed passages between shards.

-The First -

He looked so small, hunched over in his white robes. U’rahn wasn’t sure what pulled him forward, he found himself on his knees, emptying his pockets of the little stones he collected in Amarout. Violet and Jannie wandered up from behind, saying something but he didn’t hear, focused on Elidibus before him.

“This… Yes... I would become Him. I would save everyone. This I believed. Yet still they cried out, in rage and despair...Divided─over the fate of the star. A rare occurrence, always fleeting. But not this time. Not this time…” Eldibus said softly, picking up the stones and looking up toward the sky. “Reconciliation. Elidibus. I was needed. I withdraw myself from Zodiark. For them...My people. My brothers. ...My friends. My…”

U’rahn swallowed, finding Elidbus looking at him, feeling his heart beat hard within his chest. Seeing a tear, he reached out, letting it roll against his finger before it floated upward.

“Stay strong. Keep the faith. At duty's end, we will meet again. We will. We will,” Elidbus started to repeat.

He found himself moving forward, arms around the fleeting specter, holding him close in his arms as he felt him slip away. Tears burned down his own face, though he could not say from where or why. 

“The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it,” Elidbus lamented before erupting into ethereal light.

“But I’m right here…,” U’rahn found himself saying, looking at the stone of Azem in his hand before feeling something inside him break, falling forward and into a sleep as Jannie and Violet called out to him from behind.